MONTEGO BAY, St James — President of the Decameron group of hotels, Fabio Villegas, has given a commitment to use his influence in the airline industry to secure airlifts from Latin America into Jamaica in a bid to boost tourist arrivals.

“We would like to work together with the Government of Jamaica and with the airlines in Latin America to share efforts to bring its tourists to Jamaican shores so that they can enjoy very much what you have here to offer,” Villegas announced during Saturday’s official opening of the 146- room Royal Decameron Cornwall Beach Resort in Montego Bay, St James.

“In Decameron in Jamaica, we have a lot of tourists from Canada, from Europe and from the United States. We would like to bring tourists from Latin America to Jamaica. And in order to do that, we need to improve connectivity to be able to bring Latin American airlines to your airports in Jamaica.”

He noted that for 11 years he was head of operations for Avianca, one of Latin America’s top airlines.

Villegas’s announcement was music to the ears of Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who embraced the opportunity with open arms.

“My friend, Fabio Villegas, I am taking your words seriously, and we will be talking to you later on and putting some timelines to some of those ideas that you put forward. I agree with you, South America is the next frontier,” an elated Bartlett said.

“I want to also thank you for introducing the wider and important subject of air connectivity, which is so important to us in building our industry. And particularly, the new markets of South America, we have been having some difficulties getting the airlift from South America in the way that we want.”

The tourism minister outlined that Copa has served the sector with airlifts out of South America, but that the airline has “their own limitation in terms of the size of their equipment and the frequency also of their rotations”.

“So to hear that you have not only good connection with Avianca, that we have been searching to have a link with for a little while, but that you are willing to facilitate the connectivity, that excites me,” Bartlett said.

“And so I tell you that in short order we will be trekking down, Mr Paul Pennicook (tourism director) and myself, to Colombia to meet you [Villegas] and to meet Avianca because we are ready for that connectivity.”

Prime Minister Andrew Holness officially declared open the 146-room all-inclusive hotel built on the site of the former Cornwall Beach, which will provide 100 direct jobs and 200 indirectly.

Meanwhile, Villegas, who revealed that Decameron operates “32 different hotels around the region”, explained that the recently opened resort was the hotel chain’s third in Jamaica.

“…And we are looking forward to more in the future and to work together with all of you to put additional tourists, hotels in the island,” he remarked.

“We love the island. we are very much aware of the beauty of the island, the resources it has, and the opportunity it offers for the tourist industry.”